Adjustable feed table for printing presses and the like



p 1970 R. G. ZEMAN 3,527,459

ADJUSTABLE FEED TABLE FOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE Filed July 17, 1968 INVENTOR.

ROBERT G. ZEMAN BY%6M ATTORNEY 3,527,459 ADJUSTABLE FEED TABLE FOR PRINTING PRESSES AND THE LIKE Robert G. Zeman, Box 203, Ely, Iowa 52227 Filed July 17, 1968, Ser. No. 745,503 Int. Cl. B6511 1/04 US. Cl. 271--61 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A table for supporting a stack of paper stock in the feeding position of an offset printing press so that even the last sheet in the stack will be fed into the press. The table has adjustable members which allow the same supporting table to be used for diiferent sizes of paper stock.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In offset printing presses and the like, there is provided a table upon which the paper stock rests in a stacked position so that the feed mechanism of the press can pick up individual sheets from the stack and feed them into the press. Normally, the feed table upon which the paper stock rests is a flat, smooth table generally rectangular in shape. Because of the clearances required by portions of the sheet feeding mchanism, a considerable number of sheets at the bottom of the stack are not fed. Thus, there is always an extra inch or so of paper stock remaining on the feed table. Runs on a press are normally in multiples of one hundred, and the paper stock is usually supplied to the printer in similar units, therefore it becomes necessary to use an odd amount in order to supply the extra amount of paper needed which will remain after the press has printed the desired run. This is inconvenient and time consuming for the operator, may result in inaccurate runs, and in order to assure that the correct amount is printed, extra sheets are often printed to avoid shorting the customer. Although the quantities in any one individual run are small, over a period of time the cumulative amounts of extra time and paper wasted can be a considerable expense.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to overcome the inconvenience and waste when using the standard feed table with an offset press, I have developed a feed table that will support the paper stock in the usual manner but which will in addition provide the necessary clearances so that the machine can feed even the last sheet of paper in the stack resting on the feed table. Since it is also important that the paper be supported along its outer edges in order for the individual sheets of paper to be properly feed into the press, my invention provides a feed table with adjustable members so that various sizes of paper can be handled while always assuring that the outer edges of the paper will be on a supporting surface. With such an adjustable feed table, all of the various sizes of paper normally handled by the press can be used, and regardless of the size of paper used, even the last sheet in the stack will be fed into the press.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a simplified view in perspective of a printing press of the type to which my invention relates and shows United States Patent my novel feed table in place; and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the feed table Without the primary base and showing the operative portion of the feed table adjusted to accommodate the smallest paper size.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As previously indicated, the invention is for a novel feed table for use in connection with a printing press represented generally by the reference numeral 10. Presses commonly have a paper feed mechanism (not shown) a portion of which 12 projects downwardly from the feed mechanism. As is well known to those skilled in the art, the feed mechanism removes individual sheets of paper stock from the stack resting on the feed table 14 which is automatically elevated as the stack height decreases. Because of the clearance normally required for the portion 12 of the feed mechanism, the bottom inch or so of the stack of paper will not be fed by the machine. Thus, the operator must always allow for this in setting up the machine for a run of a particular amount of paper.

My novel feed table overcomes these difiiculties. A feed table 14 constructed according to the principles of my invention consists generally of a primary base 16 of generally rectangular shape, the table having a front edge 18 and a back edge 20. The base 16 may be a standard feed table normally used with the press 10.

Resting on the base 16 are a plurality of members which forms the operative portion of the feed table 14 and which provide for the adjustment necessary to accommodate varying sizes of paper stock. Resting directly on the feed table base 16, is a layer of intermediate members forming a secondary base and consisting of a back member 22 and two sides members 24 and 26 arranged in a generally U-shaped configuration as best seen in FIG. 2. Members 22, 24 and 26 are secured to each other and t0 the base 16 in any suitable manner and are not movable with respect to the base 16. Obviously, members 22, 24 and 26 could be a one-piece structure. The outer edges of the secondary base formed by members 22, 24 and 26 coincide generally with the outer edges of the primary base 16, but the outer edges of the members 22, 24 and 26 are slightly inside of the outer edges of base 16 for a purpose that will be obvious from the description hereinafter. Each of the side members 24 and 26 has along the front edge 18 of table 14 a projection 30 and 32, respectively, that extends inwardly into the open area 34 defined by the inner edges of members 22, 24 and 26 and the top surface of primary base 16.

A slide member 36 is positioned in the open area 34, the member 36 being of a width slightly less than the distance between the inner edges of side members 24 and 26 but greater than the distances between the outer ends of the projections 30 and 32. Thus, member 36 is free to move along the top surface of primary base 16 from front to rear within the open area 34, but member 36 is contained therein by the projections 30 and 32, which serve as stops, and the inner edge of back member 22. Afiixed to the slide member 36 and movable therewith is a main paper supporting board 38, the front edge of which coincides with the front edge of the slide member 36. The width of the main support board 38 is less than the width of the slide member 36 and is approximately the same width as the distance between the ends of projections 30 and '32. Two stationary side boards 40 and 42, which are of the same thickness as the main support board 38,

are secured to the top surfaces of members 22-, 24 and 26 along the sides thereof as shown. Side boards 40 and 42 extend inwardly the same distance as the projections 30 and 32 and present parallel inside edges which serve as guides for the movable main support board 38. The inner edges of side boards 40 and 42 extend beyond the inner edges of the side members 24 and 26. Thus, the members 40 and 42 serve to contain slide member 36 from moving upwardly out of the plane of the intermediate layer of the feed table and also serve to guide the main support member 38 in a linear direction between the front edge 18 and the rear edge 20 of table 14.

Also resting on the base 16 are two transversely movable slide members 44 and 48. Each of the slide members 44 and 48 has a transverse groove along its bottom surface which groove engages guides '50 and 52 which are affixed to the primary base member 16 at a spaced distance from the rear edge of the back member 22 at each corner thereof. Afiixed to each of the slide members 44 and 48 are end support boards 54 and 56. Each end support board 54 and 56 is affixed generally to the rear half of its respective slide member 44 and 48, the front half of each slide member extending beneath the rearwardly extending edge of the side boards 40 and 42. The thickness of the end support boards 54 and 56 is the same as the main support board 38, the top surfaces of these boards and side boards 40' and 42 all being in the same plane, thus providing a fiat surface upon which the paper stock rests.

To prevent the slide members 44 and 48 from being moved outwardly and becoming disengaged from the feed table, there is provided along each side of the table edging strips 58 and 60, which strips rest upon the primary base 16 but do not extend above the height of the main surface of the support table. Thus, the end support boards 54 and 56 are easily movable within the defined transverse distance but their movement is restricted so that they cannot become disengaged from the table 14.

Along the rear edge 20 of the table there is secured an edge support member 62. This member 62 provides support for the paper stock regardless of the position of the end support boards 54 and 56 each of which is cut out as shown along its rearward edge to receive the edge support member 62. To provide further support and also serve as a center stop for end boards 54 and '56 there is a central member 64 which engages the inner ends of the boards 54 and 56 when they are moved to their innermost position.

From the above description it will be evident that the main support board 38 can be moved from the front to the rear of the table so as 'to accommodate paper of varying widths. Likewise, the end support boards 54 and 56 can be freely moved inwardly and outwardly to accommodate paper of varying lengths. The construction of the adjustable support members is such that the paper stock will be supported along substantially all of its edges, this being important to insure proper feeding of the paper into the press. When the support members are moved to their closed position to support the smallest sheet size, the paper will be supported along its entire edge. As the paper size that is used increases and the support members are moved outwardly, the back edge of the paper stock will still be supported along substantially all of its edges because of edge support member 62. The other three edges of paper stock will always be fully supported on the table.

It will also be obvious from the description that regardless of the paper size, there will be a part of the open area 34 which remains unobstructed thus providing the necessary clearance for the portion -12 of the feed mechanism of the press. The overall thickness of my novel table should be such as to provide the necessary clearance for the particular press used.

It will be obvious that I have provided an extremely simple yet very useful feed table for presses which table can accommodate and properly support paper stock of almost any desired sizewithinthe limits'of the press it self. This feed table will provide the proper and necessary support along all edges of the paper stock while at the same time providing the necessary clearance to assure no interference between the feed mechanism of the press and the feed table. Although I have described only a single preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various revisions and modifications can be made to the disclosed embodiment shown without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims,

Iclaim:

1. For use in connection with printing presses and the like, an adjust-able feed table comprising a base member having a front and rear edge with a cut-out portion along the front edge, paper supporting members secured to the top surface of said base member and extending longitudinally along each side of said cut out portion, a first movable paper support board movable longitudinally between said support members and within said cut-out portion, and second and third movable paper support boards movable transversely along the rear edge of said table, the top surfaces of said paper supporting members and all of said movable paper support boards being in substantially the same plane to provide a flat paper supporting surface.

2. The feed table of claim 1 in which said paper supporting members also serve as guides for movement of said first paper support board.

3. The feed table of claim 2 in which said paper supporting members have portions extending inwardly a slight distance over said cut-out portion, and said first movable paper support board has affixed to its front edge a slide member engageable with the undersurface of said inwardly extending portion.

4. The feed table as defined in claim 2 in which said feed table is generally rectangular, and said base member has a cut-out portion at each of the rear corners thereof, said paper support members having portions extending rearwardly over said corner cut-out portions, and said second and third movable paper support boards each having afiixed thereto a slide member movable in the respective corner cut-out portion beneath the rearwardly extending portion of said paper support member.

5. The feed table as defined in claim 1 in which said paper supporting members have portions extending inwardly a slight distance over said cut-out portion, and said first movable paper support board has afiixed to its front edge a slidemember engageable with the undersurface of said inwardly extending portion.

'6. The feed table of claim 1 in which there is provided a transversely extending paper support afiixed to said base member along the central portion of the rear edge of said table, said second and third movable paper support boards being movable inwardly and outwardly between said edge support and said paper support members.

7. The'feed table as defined in claim 6 in which said feed table is generally rectangular, and said base member has a cut-out portion at each of the rear corners thereof, said paper support members having portions extending rearwardly over said corner cut-out portions, and said second and third movable paper support boards each havlng afiixed thereto a slide member movable in the respectlve corner cut-out portion beneath the rearwardly extending portion of said paper support member.

8. The feed table as defined in claim 6 in which the rear edge of said first paper support board extends to a position closely adjacent said second and third paper support boards when said first board is moved to its rearmost position.

9. The feed table as defined in claim 1 in which said feed table is generally rectangular, and said base member has a cut-out portion at each of the rear corners thereof, said support members having portions extending 5 rearwardly over said corner cut-out portions, and said second and third movable paper support boards each having afiixed thereto a slide member movable in the respective corner cut-out portion beneath the rearwardly extending portion of said paper support member.

10. The feed table as defined in claim 1 in which the rear edge of said first paper support board extends to a position closely adjacent said seoond and third paper support boards when said fisrt board is moved to its rearmost position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,395,897 11/1921 Berkowitz 271-61 3,022,997 2/1962 Pendley 271-61 RICHARD 1E. AEGERTER, Primary Examiner R. G. GAITHER, Assistant Examiner 

